Farewell Friends

Well friends,

After 1,229 posts and 6 years of blogging, my blogging time here at Lovely by M has come to an end.  Ending this blog has been something I've felt I've needed to do for some time now but its taken me a while to muster up the courage to actually do so.  Six years is a hard habit to break.

I've absolutely loved and appreciated the internet friendships made, the people who have made me feel a little more sane in the not so sane moments of life, people who have related to me, shared their knowledge and their support and their kindness.  I've loved receiving phone calls from my mom saying she just checked my blog and she loved....  I've loved being inspired by others lifestyles, homes, ideas, and beliefs.  I've loved sharing a bit of who I am and pushing to be better.  And most of all, I've loved receiving comments on my blog from my favorite commenter, my husband.

He has always supported my blogging habit because he wanted me to do something that I loved and enjoyed.  Him and twig are the reason that I have kept going even though my desire and as you have probably noticed depth of posts have lessened. We have appreciated so much the support we've received for our 'lil business through this blog.  It now scares me to think that those of you who support us in our venture won't receive updates if I no longer leave them here.

However, my heart has whispered to me for some time that this isn't where I need to be anymore.  I no longer need to think up and plan posts, take pictures of anything and everything, measure myself up to her and her and her, re-do my header and sidebar a gazillion times, get blog envy, or even pressure update.  My little family needs me more, my attention to spirituality needs me more, my desire to challenge my creativity needs me more, and our dream to live our business needs me more.

As I've wondered when I would actually take this leap and write this post, I came home from the grocery store tonight to find a little note with a "watch me" attached to the ipod.  This video  solidified my decision and is a beautifully perfect description of how I feel.

So friends, I thank you for letting me be me, for humoring me and visiting my space here often.  I'm sure I'll still be checking in with you in your area of the www every so often.

Please don't however, forget the hubs and I over at twig.  I will be blogging over there and if you liked following my blog here, please do come follow us.  You will find a good mix of similar taste posts.

twigcreativeblog.blogspot.com
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love to you all.

Mo

This morning while up in her high chair, little J tapped her fingers together while saying "mo mo" and at that point, with over excitement I hollered for the hubs to come in and see.  There she was, our little 16 month old signing "more"; a sign I have been diligent in using for the last 8 months or so as she has eaten solids.  I never knew if she was picking up on the sign and this morning I got my answer.  I then found myself scrambling to use other signs, wishing I had been more diligent with others. 

So my lesson learned: Like they always say, your children listen to you more than you know and follow your example more than you realize.

She's kept up the sign all day long and I still think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Childhood Dream

You know what day it is!  I'm over at twig talking about one of my childhood dreams and how I lived it vicariously through the library.

Sunny St. George

We spent the weekend in St. George and if I've learned anything while traveling it's these few things.

Babies will never sleep as soundly away from home which also means you will be just as tired as they are.

It's refreshing to leave the camera at home and not worry about capturing every single moment.  Leave it up to the hubs with his fancy iphone and just enjoy the moments in real time.

Renting a house online for the stay can be deceiving.

There is unique beauty in any place you travel.

I will always from now on put 2 babies instead of just 1 in a baby swing.  Preferably chubby ones.

Hiking the red rocks will inevitably leave your shoes full of sand.

No matter the time of day or night, travel driving will make me fall asleep for long periods of time.  Although I will wake up for a few seconds every so often just to stroke your arm and make sure you, the driver are still awake.

Search out the free events in the area.  An outdoor movie night and a better than 7-Peaks water area rocked our weekend.

The said not-so-soundly-sleeping baby will then be off schedule for the next week or so.

Unpacking is never as fun as packing.

Going back to making dinner is hard after eating out and having meals taken care of for you.  Although there is nothing like coming back to home cookin'.

I almost always need a vacation from a vacation.

Neat Receipts: A Review

If you know anything about me by now, you know that I am a lover of good organization.  So you can only imagine my joy when The Neat Company sent me the Neat Receipts Scanner.

Running a small business means that every aspect of that said business falls into your hands.  The one part that I tend to slack on is keeping up with the accounting and inputting receipts.  It's just a big task when receipts are coming in frequently and I can't possibly be hooked to the computer all day.  So they inevitably land in a file until future time allows...however, I never quite seem to make adequate time for them.  And you know the mess of them kills me!

So insert the Neat Receipts Scanner.  This tiny little thing, so sleek and handy scans in individual receipts with the touch of a button.  Up pops an image of the receipt and in enters the receipt information.  Not every line on every receipt was recognized which is a slight bummer but it still beats me typing in every tidbit.  This machine also allows you to export the info. into a spreadsheet which has me super duper happy.  It is honestly was so easy to use, I pushed the button, walked away and had a little edamame snack in between.

I must say as well that I appreciated the packaging.  It came tightly wrapped with simple instructions all labeled and written in plain terms.  If I love organization, I'm going to love nice packaging and attention to detail as well ;o)  I'm excited to use this for not only receipts but for J's drawings, keepsakes, documents, etc.  It's basically an all around paperless organizer and I now understand why it's called Neat Receipts, for it is rather neat.

Here's to going paperless!

Internet Inspirations: Living Area

I've listed my favorite internet inspirations of the week for your living area over at twig and I have to say, I want to devour image number 3, is an absolute new fave shop of mine.  You must see.

Brunch Lunch Linner or Dinner

As always, I'm hasty for a new recipe so I flipped through a recent Rachael Ray mag [who I'm not normally a fan of] and found this brunch treat to try.  It turned out rather delicious and I love the idea of little individual servings.

Summer Entertainment

I'm over on the twig blog announcing our Brightly Collection as now available in the shop, hip hip! and sharing my top 4 picks for outdoor summer entertainment.

and P.S. I just entered this giveaway for a trip to Pari', have you?

First Time Mac & Cheese

Apparently it's a keeper.

I Went, I Finally Went!

I rarely have a girls night out if you know what I mean because the hubs and the babe are quite perfect company but Friday night was a special night where the hubs and his brother swooped over to a matinee of the most appropriate movie for a guy's afternoon, "Fast Five" and then my sis-in-law and I whisked over the kids so that we could head over to the Rooftop Concert Series.

I've wanted to go a zillion times but not being in the local area anymore + having a little baby who goes to bed early calls for no late nights out on the town.  However, the hubs knew how much I wanted to see Mindy Gledhill and he did whatever he could to make it happen.

Sarah and I left the house kind of giddy to choose whatever we wanted to eat, in which, we mentioned all the same places and were pleasantly pleased to pick up some vegetable-herb filled yummyness at Guru's and then head over to the show.  Don't even worry about the 2 prime parking spots I passed up thinking we could get closer, to then circle around 3 more times and end up back over by the restaurant to walk all the way back to the concert, no don't even worry about that.  It was a beautiful night and we welcomed the walk.

We cozyied into a small open area in the front; for there was no way I was heading all the way to the super packed back of the roof top, and the pictures tell the rest....

Mindy sings just as dreamily as she does on her album + is gorgeous, Ryan Innes was a new to me + folksy awesome singer, and Meagan Smith told humorous stories through her soulful & captivating voice.  And I must say, I thought it was amazingly cool that a small group of local people made all that happen.

Revived was the feeling of the night.  Sometimes it's good to get out and do something that you really love and that you really admire.  Mindy mentioned that her family is the reason she's able to do what she loves and I jotted that in my mental notebook.  I want to do better at being the reason my family can express their talents, their passions, and their goodness.

Who's with me for the next concert?